Transnational Education Student Learning and Sense of Belonging through a Flipped Classroom Model in Southeast Asia

This study examined student experiences in an online learning transnational education model by exploring the flipped classroom pedagogy at two Microcampuses in South East Asia. Interviews were conducted with forty-nine participants across three countries, the U.S., Cambodia and Indonesia. Participants in Cambodia and Indonesia included students, lecturers and administrators. U.S. participants included U.S. Instructors and administrators. Six Microcampus courses were analyzed through a document analysis process, which included an adaptation of the Quality Matters Rubric. Additionally, six in-person classroom observations occurred in Cambodia and Indonesia using the Teaching Dimensions Observation Protocol observation methods. The study used Moore’s Theory of Transactional Distance (1997) to conceptualize how dialogue, learning autonomy and course structure engages transnational students in their learning through sense of belonging. The findings in this study indicated that transnational education models need to consider transnational student needs including: student identity, sense of belonging, course structure, interaction across borders, student plans post-graduation, and intentional content delivered through a cultural humility lens. By integrating these findings, this study’s implications focused on three main concepts: student learning in a flipped classroom model, best practices for transnational education students in online learning across borders and defining transnational education students for future research and student support. This study contributes to existing literature on transnational education and furthers the conversation by challenging the field of higher education to consider transnational education student identity, student learning goals, and the role of cultural humility in online student learning.